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LIBER'IV TRACTS NUMRF.R NINE 



REPUBLIC -< EMPIRE 



w ITH 



GLIMPSES OF "CRIMINAL 
AGGRESSION" 

EDWIN RURRITT SMITH 

OF THE CHICAGO BAR 



AN ADDRESS DELIVERED AT THE. PHILADELPHIA 
CONFERENCE, FEBRUARV 23, 1900 



The people of the United States are sovereign; their government is 
but an agent exercising conferred and limited powers. The Constitution 
does not bind them ; it was created by them to limit and control 
their government. The heresy that mere creatures of the Constitu- 
tion may acquire "colonial possessions" and "subjects," to be by 
them despotically ruled outside the Constitution, must be stamped 
out. Its undisguised basis is inequality among m?n. Shall we, by 
evasion, construction, or aminilnient, now embody this principle in 
our fundamental law ? 



CHICAGO: 

AMERICAN ANTI-IMPERIALIST LEAGUE 

1900 



"Great captains with their guns and drums. 
Disturb our judgment for the hour, 
But at last silence comes." 

— Loivell. 

" I have always thought that all men should be free, but if any should 
be slaves, it should be first those who desire it for themselves, and secondly 
those who desire it for others." 

Abraham Liiico/?!, Complete W^orks, J'ol. -',/>. 662. 

'' It is now no child's play to save the principles of Jefferson from total 
overthrow in 'this nation. . . . The principles of Jefferson are the 
definitions and axioms of free society ; and yet they are denied and evaded, 
with no small show of success. One dashingly calls them ' glittering 
generalities.' Another bluntly calls them 'self evident lies.' Others 
insidiously argue that they apply to ' superior races. ' These expressions, 
differing in form, are identical in object and effect, the supplanting the 
principles of free government, and restoring those of class, caste, and 
legitimacy. They would delight a convocation of crowned heads plotting 
against the people. They are the vanguard, the miners and sappers of 
returning despotism. We must repulse them, or they will subjugate us. 
This is a world of compensation and he who would be no slave must consent 
to have no slave. Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not them- 
selves, and, under a just God, cannot long retain it. 

"... To-day, and in all coming days, it [Declaration of Inde- 
pendence] shall be a rebuke and a stumbling block to the very harbingers 
of re-appearing tyranny and oppression." 

Abraha)}i Lincoln, Letter to H. L. Pierce, April 6, /Sjg. If'or/cs, Vol. 
L p. 33^- 

" Arbitrary governments may have territories and distant possessions 
because arbitrary governments may rule them by diiTerent laws and 
different systems. Russia may rule in the Ukraine and the provinces of the 
Caucausas and Kamschatka by different codes, ordinances, or ukases. We 
can do no such thing. They must be of us, part of us, or else strangers." 

Daniel Webster. 






GLIMPSES OF "CRIMINAL AGGRESSION/ 



" I speak not of forcible aimexatioii, fur that cannot hv lliou^Iit of. 
That, by our code of morals. woiiM he criminal aggression." 

J/^c'ssii,i^t- of Pre silt cut McKiiiUy to Conf(ress, . Ipi il j f , /SgS. 

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF. 

" I am desirous of re^torin,^ to Iheiu [ American Colonists] the blessings 
of law, which they have fatally and desperately exchanged for the calamities 
of war, and the arbitrary tyranny of their chiefs." 

Protfaniatioii of Kin v: (ii-or<i,- fff. /j~6. 

" That Coni^ress will provide for them [the Thilipinos] a government 
which will bring them blessings, which will jjromote their material interests, 
as well as advance their people in the paths of civilization and intelligence, 
I confidently believe." 

-l//-. M(Kinlcy at Mii!iu'iif>o/is, Octolwr /j, /Sgg. 

THE "PROVIDENCE OF GOD" THEORY. 

" The Philippines, like Cuba and I'orlo Rico, were intrusted to our 
hands by the Providence of God." 

Jfr. Ml Kiiilcy at />ostoii, /•'chriuuy if>, /Sgg. 

" In the Providence of God who works in mysterious ways, this great 
archipelago was put into our lap " 

J//-. McKinlt-y at Red field, S. P., Octolu-r / /. /Sgg. 

" Into our reluctant la]) the hand of destiny dropped the Philippines. 
Saul went out to seek his father's asses and found a kingdom." 

P/rsidi'uf Scfiurntaii at C/iica^o. February ?j. iqno. 

" Secret and confidential .... Keep full of coal. In the event 
of declaration of war with Spain, your duty will be to see that the Spanish 
sf|uadron does not leave the Asiatic coast, and then offensive ojierations in 
Philippine Islands." 

Roosei'eli, Assistant Secretary of Xaiy, to Deicey, Fettruary 2^, /SqS, 
Appendix Report Chief Bureau .Vai'i^ation, p. jj. 

" There is every reason to believe that, with Manila taken or even 

blockaded, the rest of the islands wouhl fall to the insurgents or ourselves." 

/)ispatr/i fivin Commodore /hrciy. /fom^koni^. March ^i. /SgS. 

"Conditions here and in Cuba are practically alike. War exists, battles 
are of almost daily occurrence. The crown forces have not J)een 

able to dislodge a rebel army within ten miles of Manila 4 

)epi(hlie is ori:^anized here asm Cuha. . . .\11 authorities agree that 

unless the crown largely reinforces its army here it will lose possession." 

Consul inttiaius, Manila, to .Isst. Secy. Cridler, February jj, /SgS. 
Senate Doc. 62. />. 7/9. 



4 GLIMPSES OF "CRIMINAL AGGRESSION." 

' ' Spain relinquishes all claim of sovereignty over and title to Cuba. 

Spain cedes to the United States the archipelago known as the 

Philippine Islands." 

J/r. IMcKinley's ''Treaty of Peace.''' 

WERE THE FILIPINOS OUR ALLIES? 

" Aguinaldo, insurgent leader, here, v/ill come Hong Kong arrange 
with Commodore for general co-operation insurgents Manila if desired." 

U. S. Consul-General Pratt, Singapore, to Commodore Dezvey, Hong- 
kong, April 2^, iSgS. Senate Doc. 62, p. 342. 

' ' Tell Aguinaldo to come soon as possible. ' ' 

Commodore Dewey to Consul-Gencral Pratt, April 24, iSgS. Id. p. J42. 

" General Aguinaldo gone my instance Hongkong arrange with Dewe^ 
co-operation insurgents Manila." 

Consul-General Pratt, to Secy. Day, April 2j, 1S98. Id. i>. 341. 

" Large supply of rifles should be taken for insurgent allies." 

Consul IVildman, Hong Kong, May ig, iSgS, to Secretary Day. 
Senate Doe. 62, p. jj(5. 

"I have given him [Aguinaldo] to understand that I consider the 
insurgents as friends, being opposed to a common enemy. He has gone to 
attend a meeting of insurgent leaders for the purpose of forming a civil 
government. Aguinaldo has acted independently of the squadron, but has 
kept me advised of his progress, which has been wonderful. I have allowed 
to pass by water, recruits, arms and ammunition, and to take such Spanish 
arms and ammunition from the arsenal as he needed. Have advised 
frequently to conduct the war humanely, which he has done invariably." 

Rear-Adniiral Dezvey to Secretary Long, June 2j, iSgS. Appendix 
Bureau Navigation Report, p. 103. 

''General : I desire to have the most amicable relations 

wnth you, and to have you and your people co-operate with us in military 
operations against the Spanish forces." 

Genl. Thomas Af. Anderson to Aguinaldo, July 4, i8g8. Senate 
Doc. 62, p. jgo. 

" General: The bearer, Maj. J. F. Bell, U. S. A., was sent by Maj. Gen. 
Wesley Merritt, U. S. A., to collect for him, by the time of his arrival, 
certain information concerning the topography of the country surrounding 
Manila. I would be obliged if you would permit him to see your maps and 
place at his disposal any information you may have on the above subjects, 
and also give him a letter or pass addressed to your subordinates which will 
authorize them to furnish him any information they can on these subjects, 
and t') facilitate his passage along the lines upon a reconnaisance around 
Manila." 

Genl. T/iomas M. Anderson to Aguinaldo, July ig, iSgS. Senate 
Doc. 62, p. sgj. 

" I came from Hongkong to prevent my countrymen from making 
common cause with the Spanish against the North Americans. ' ' 

Aguinaldo to Gen. Thomas 31. Anderson, July 24, jSg8. Senate Doc. 
62, p. 39 f. 



f'rLIMl'SF^S OI- CRIMINAL AGGRKSSION' 5 

"General : When I raiiie ht-re three weeks n;^<) I rcf|ueste<l your <jx- 
cellency to j^ive what assistance yoiicouM to pr<»cure tiieaiis of transjiortation 
for the American Army, as it was to tijrht in the cause of your pcopUv So 
far we have recoived no resjxinse. As you represent your jK-ople, I now have 
the honor to make re(|uisition on you for 5<x} horses and 50 oxen and ox 
carts. ' ' 

Cen. .Indrr^ou A» .Iji^idiinltliK July jj, /.VyV. Srnit/r /)>>(■. 6.', p. j)f 

" (f'ruerii/: KepyUnij to your letter of ye.stcnlav, I have the honor to 
manifest to your excellency that 1 am surprised heyoutl measure at that which 
you Siiy to me in it, lamentin;.^ the non-receipt of any resj>onse relative to the 
needs (or aids) that you asked of me in the way of hofM-s, hufTaloes, and 
carts, because 1 rejilied in a ])recise manner, through the liearer, that I was 
disposed tt) j^ive convenient orders whenever you advised me the number of 
these with due anticipation (notice). 

I have circulateil orders in the pro\-inccs in the proximity that in the 
shortest lime possible horses l)e broiii^ht for sale. . . . I h.ive also ordered 
to be placed at my disposal 50 carls th.il I shall place at your disposition." 

Aguinaliio io Ucn. Thomas J/. . hidt-rsoit, July 2/, /SqS. Seuatc Doc. 
6-'. /• 395- 

"You ouirlit to imder>land that without the lonjj siege sustained by my 
forces you miv,'ht have obtained possession of the ruins of the city, but never 
the surrender of the Spanish forces, who could have retired to the interior 
towns. ... I do not C(jniplain of the di.sowninj.; of our help in the 
mentioned ca])itulation, althougli justice resents it greatly, and I have to 
bear the well-founded blame of my ])eoi)le. ... I hope that this time 
you will manifest the spirit of justice that pertains to such a free and 
admirably constituted government as that of the I'nitcd States of .Vmerica." 

Einilio .ly^uiiialdo to Geul. Merrill, .Ini^iisl 27, /SqS. Reporl 0/ Coil. 
Oil's, /or fSgg, />. 5. Senale Doc. 62, p. 403. 

In reply to above by Genl. Otis, .successor in command to Genl. Merritt, 
addressed to " T/ie ConniuiiiJiiii^ General 0/ lite Philippine I-'orees," dated 
September 8, iSgS, occur tlie.se words: 

" It only remains for me to respectfully notify you that I am comj^lled 
by mv instructions to direct that your anned forces evacuate the entire city 
of Manila, including its suburbs ami defenses, antl that I .shall be obliged to 
take action within a very short space of time should you decline to coniply 
with my Government's demands [///(// .-ItruinaUlo snrrenJer positions icithin 
suburbs ami city of Manila captured by his forces durim^ -<•'':».''■] ; ''"d I 
hercbv ser\-e notice on you that unless your troops are withdrawn beyond 
the liiie of the city's defenses before Thursday, the 15th instant, I shall l)e 
obliged to resort to forcible action, and that my government will hold you 
responsible for any unfortunate con.sefiueiices which may ensue. ... I 
have conferred freely with Admiral Dewey upon the contents of this 
communication, and am delegated by him to state that he fully approves of 
the same in all respects; that the commands of our government compel us 
to act as herein indicate*!, and that between our respective forces there will 
be unanimitv and com])lete concert (if action." 

<,'■■:!. ()lis' A'epor/,p. 9. 

" Had it not been arranged for Geuer.d .Aguinaldo thus to co-operate 
with us, it is more than probable that he would h »ve returned to the islands 
of his own accord anrl undertaken independent operations, which might. I 
fear, have caused us serious embarr;issnient." 

Consul-General Pratt, Signapore, June 21, iS<)S, to Assistant Srnrttiry 
Moore. Senate Doc. ^>2, p. jj6. 



G C^LIMPSES OF "CRIMINAL AGGRESSION."' 

"The United States Governnient, through its naval commander, has to 
some extent made use of them for a distinct mihtary purpose, viz., to harras 
and aimoy the Spanish troops, to M'ear them out in the trenches, to blockade 
Manila on the land side, and to do as much damage as possiVjle to the 
Spanish Government prior to the arrival of our troops; and for this purpose 
the admiral allowed them to take arms and munitions which he had captured 
at Cavite, and their ships to pass in and out of Manila Bay in their expe- 
ditions against other provinces." 

F. V. Greene, Major-Ceiicral U. S. /'., before Peace Commission at 
Paris, August jo, iSgo. Senate Doc. 62, p. 424. 



*^ Mr. Freye: .... Suppose the United States in the progress of 
that war found the leader of the present Philippine rebellion an exile from 
his country in Hongkong and sent for him and brought him to the islands 
in an American ship, and then furnished him 4,000 or 5,000 stands of arms, 
and allowed him to purchase as many more stands of arms in Hongkong, 
and accepted his aid in conquering Luzon, what kind of a nation in the eves 
of the world, would we appear to be to surrender Aguinaldo and his 
insurgents to Spain to be dealt with as they please ? 

"A. (Commander Bradford) We became responsible for everything 
he has done. He is our ally, and we are bound to protect him." 

Statemort of Comjiiander B. B. Bradford, C. S. Xaiy, October 14, 
iSgS, before Peace Commission at Paris. Senate Doc. 62, p. 4SS. 



" For a hundred years we had to content ourselves with words of 
s^'mpathy for peoples struggling, as we once struggled, for freedom and 
independence. Here for the first time an opportunity came to help in such 
a struggle without breaking our settled policy. We joined ranks with the 
native patriots against a common enemy. Whether any one made, or was 
authorized to make, promises to them is of no consequence. Our history 
and principles are a perpetual promise ; and no one will deny that when the 
Philipinos joined forces with us they believed, and we knew they believed, 
that success would mean the fulfillment of their hopes. We should have 
resented a request for a promise that we would not do beyond the seas what 
we had pledged ourselves not to do at our own shores. No American can 
truly say that during the struggle he had any other idea. If anybody then 
assumed to sit in judgment on the fitness of others to have rights which we 
hold to be inalienable, nobody dreamed of questioning Ihe fitness for free- 
dom and independence of men, who to gain them, had risked their lives, their 
fortunes, and their sacred honor." 

Ex-Attorney General fudson Harmon, at dinner to Hon. jrHliani 
H. Taft, Cincinnati, March 5, igoo. 



HISTORY MADE TO ORDER. 

" Nor was there any co-operation of any kind between the contending 
respective forces, and the relations between them were strained from the 
beginning." 

Philippine Commission's "'Preliminary" Report. 



" There were no conferences between the officers of the Filipinos and 
our officers with a view of operating against the Spaniards, nor was there 
any co-operation of any kind." 

P'hilippinc Conunission's '' Preliniinary" Report. 



(".l.IMrSKS OI' "CRIMINAL ACW'.KKSSlON." 7 

" I never promised him, directly or imlirectly, iiidciieudcnce for tin- 
Filipinos ; I never treated him as an ally, txirp/ to iitn/ct- use of' /liiii ami l/ii 
tiii/iT'fS to assist iiif in my o/ii/ations against tlir Sf>aiiiards. He never 
iittereil the word independeme in any conversation with me or my olTicers." 
. litniiiat Jh^iuy to Stuator /.otti^r, J'thruaiy, /'jih). 

" On the circumstance that Agninaldu landed with Dewey's consent is 
built u]) the monstrous fiction that our country has been faithless to homir 
and duty, and that we owe the lMli]>inos inde])enilenie. I<ct us scpiare the 
accoutit by j)ayin^ to Ayuinaido wliat it cost him to maintain an army uj) to 
Auijust 13, iSgS, when Manila fell, and he <I<)ne with the wretched mass of 
misconstruction. If he rendered any assistance, let us ]):iy him like men, 
and he done with him. 'J'titit /lis i-idorics oirr ttir Sf>aiiiartts made our tiisk 
easier is true. We had fewer men to fit^ht, and our enemy was <lispirited by 
his diverson. As a tnilitary move the landinj^ of Aj^uinaldo was a success ; 
as a political mo\e there is nothinjj in it." 

J'/iilippiue Commissioner /)eu/)y in AVr.- )'or/: Jlerald, Nov. iSgg. 

WERE OUR ALLIES BETRAYED? 
" Now (July, 189S) for the first time arose the idea of inde])endence." 

Pliilippiiie Commission's "Preliminary'' Report. 

" .\ republic is or!.janized here as in Cuba." 

Consul Williams, Manila, to .Isst. See'y Cridter, I\hruarv 23, /SgS. 

" (u'lieral .Ij^-uinaldo's policy embraces the independence of the Philip- 
pines. . . . American protection would be desirai)le temporarily, on the 
same lines as that which niij^ht be instituted hereafter in Cuba." 

Article in .Sii^napore I-ree Pi ess, May ./, iSgS, .i^ii'in<^ account ofarrauf^c- 
inent zoith Commodore Dexccy throus^h Consul-d'eneral Pratt and /yy 
tatter sent to Secretary Day, J/ayj, /Sc^S. Senate Doc. 62, p. J./5. 

" Immediately on the arrival of A.tjunialdo at Cavite he issued a procla- 
mation, which I had outlined for him before he left, forbiddinsj pillage, and 
making it a criminal ofTense to maltreat neutrals. He, of course, organized 
a government of which he was dictator, an absolutely necessary step if he 
hoped to maintain control over the natives, and from that date until the 
])resent time he has been uninterruptedly successful in the field and dignified 
and just at the head of his government. 

" The natives are fighting for freedtmi from Spanish rule, and rely ujwn 
the well known sense of justice that controls all the actions of our govern- 
ment as to their future. 

" In conclusion, I wish to put myself on record as stating that the in- 
surgent government of the rhili])pines cannot be dealt with as though thev 
were North American Indians, willing to be removed from one reservation 
to another at the whim of their masters " 

Consul ll'ildman, IIoni::kflng July /S, /S(^S. to .Secretary I^ay. St'nate 
Doc. 62, pp. S3 7 i^"djsS. 

*' Filipinos : The great nation, lN\)rlh .\merica, cradle of true liberty, 
and friendly on that account to the liberty of our people, . . . has 
come to manifest even here a protection which is decisive as well as dis- 
interested toward us, considering us endowed with sufficient civilization to 
govern by ourselves this our unhappy land.' 

.■is;uinaldo's Proclamation issued at Cavite, May 2^, /SgS. St'tiate Doe. 
62, p. .}3i. 



8 GLIMPSES OF "CRIMINAL AGGRESSION." 

" I have proclaimed in the face of the whole world that the aspiration 
of my whole life, the final object of all my efforts and strength, is nothing 
else but your independence, for I am fully convinced that that constitutes 
your constant desire, and that independence signifies for us redemption 
from slaver}' and tyranny, regaining our liberty, and entrance into the 
concert of civilized nations." 

Aguinaldo' s Proclamation, Caviie.June iS, iSgS. Soiate Doc. 62, p. ^j2. 

Aguinaldo, in a letter to Mr. McKinley, dated June 10, 1S98, refers to 
the Filipinos as " a people which trusts blindly in yoii not to abandon it to 
the tyrannj' of Spain, but to leave it free and hidepemlent, even if 3'ou make 
peace with Spain." , Senate Doc. 62, p. j6i. 

"Whether Admiral Dewey and Consuls Pratt, Wildman and Williams 
did or did not give Aguinaldo assurance that a Filipino government would 
be recognized, the Filipinos certainly thought so, probably inferring this 
from their acts rather than their statements. If an incipient rebellion was 
already in progress, what could be inferred from the fact that Aguinaldo and 
thirteen other banished Tagals were brought down on a naval vessel and 
landed at Cavite? Admiral Dewey gave them arms and ammunition, as I 
did subsequently at his request. They were permitted to gather up a lot of 
arms which the Spaniards had thrown into the bay. 

" A few daj's thereafter [July i, 1898], he [Agriinaldo] made an official 
call, coming with cabinet and staff and a band of music. . . He asked if 
we, the North Americans, as he called us, intended to hold the Philippines 
as dependencies. I said I could not answer that, but that in one hundred 
and twenty years we had established no colonies. He then made this re- 
markable statement : 

I have studied attentively the Constitution of the 
United States, and I find in it no authority for col- 
onies and I have no fear.' 
" It may seem that my answer was somewhat evasive, but I was at the 
time trying to contract with the Filipinos for horses, carts, fuel and forage." 
Gen. Thomas M. Andersonin North American Review, February, 1900, 
pp. 275-277. 

" Every American citizen who came in contact with Filipinos at the 
inception of the Spanish war, or at any time within a few months after 
hostilities began, probably told those he may have talked with on the subject 
that we intend to free them from Spanish oppression. And here came in a 
natural misconception and misunderstanding .... To Aguinaldo and 
his immediate followers it meant that the United States would recognize any 
government he and his followers might set up. It must be remembered 
that, two years before, Aguinaldo had been the leader in a rebellion the 
object of which was to set up an independent Filipino government. The 
Filipino people, in a vague way, had the same anticipation, for it nmst be 
understood that while Aguinaldo is to us a very ordinary man of flesh and 
blood, he is to his countrymen an ideal. He is a long-expected Moses to 
lead them out of the house of bondage. 

" We next find him [Aguinaldo] on board the Olympia in Manila bay 
interviewing the Admiral to ascertain if he authorized all the promises made 
in his name bv the captain of the Petrel and the two consuls. Receiving 
satisfactory assurance, he proceeded naively to say that the jfunta in, Hong- 
kong, even then, suspected that after whipping the Spaniards we would 
refuse them independence The Admiral assured him that we were 
honorable, and, having plenty of land, desired no colonies. Aguinaldo is 
mistaken in attributing this remark to the Admiral. I must plead guilty to 
this Delphic utterance at a subsequent interview." 

General Thomas M. Anderson, in signed article Chicago Record, Feb- 
ruary 2f, igoo. 



GLiMrsi-:s OF "CRniiXAi. agcression.- m 

MR. McKINLEY'S DECLARATION OF WAR. 

"Allcr fully cousidciiiij^ tlu- I're>-i<Itiit's iir<Ki:iiiiali<iii [•<!" Dici-iiiiK-r 21, 
189S], Mini the Uiiiptr of llif T.i.v;ali>s with wlioiii 1 was daily disiussinj; 
political problems and the frien<ily inletilioii-. of the Uiiilt-d Slates Cfovlth- 
iiitnt towards them, I coiichided tliat there were certain words and 
expressions therein svich as ' soverei),'nty,' riglit of cession,' and those 
which directed immediate occupation, etc., though most admirahiy 
employed, and tersely expressive of actual con<Htions, mi^ht he advaji- 
taj^eously used by the Taj^alo war ])arty to incite wiilespread hostilities 
among the natives. The ignorant classes had l)een taught to believe that 
certain words, as 'sovereignty,' ' jirotection.' etc., li.id peculiar meaning 
disastrous to their welfare and significant of future ])olilical dominalion, 
like that from which they had recently been freed. It was my opinion, 
tlurcfore, that I would be justified in so amending the pa])er that the 
beneficent object of the United States (lovernment woidd be brouglit clearly 
within the comprehension of the ])eo])le, and this conclusion was the more 
readily reached because of the radical change of the ])ast few (hiys in the 
constitution of Aguinaldo's government, which could not have been under- 
stood at Washington at the time the proclamation was ])re]>ared. 

Ciful. Dfis' A't-porl. f>. 66. 

" Agiiinaldo met the proclamaticm by a counter one in which he 
indignantly protested against tlie claim of sovereignty by the United States 
in the islands, which really had been concjuered from the Spaniards through 
the blood and treasure of his countrj-men, and abused me for my assum])iion 
of the title of militar)' governor. Even the women of Cavite ])rovince, in 
a document numerously signed by them, gave me to understand that after 
all the men are killed ofJF they are prepared to shed their patriotic blood 
for the liberty and independence of their country." 

(if III. Otis' Report, f>. JO. 

" The result was our picket discharged his piece, when the insurgent 
troops near Santa Mesa opened a spirited fire on our troojis there stationed. 
The engagement was one strictly defensive on the part of the insurgents and 
of vigorous attack by our forces." ^ February 4, 1899.) 

(•oil. Otis' Report, />. 96. 

" Just before the time set hy the Senate of the Unite<l States for a vote 
upon the treaty, an attack, evidently prepared in advance, was made all 
along the American lines which resulted in a terribly destructive and san- 
guinary repulse of the insurgents." 

President' s .Vessai^e. December, i^^QQ, p. 40. 

" Deplorable as war is, the one in which we are engaged was unavoid- 
able by us. We were attacked bj' a bold, adventurous, and enthusiastic 
army." 

Philippine Commission's "/'/{tiininarv" Repoti. 

" General Torres, of the insurgents, came through the lines under a flag 
of truce and had a personal interview with General Otis, in which, sj)eaking 
for Aguiualdo, he declared that the fighting had begun accidentally and 
was not authorized by Aguinaldo ; that Aguiualdo wished to have it .stoppe<l, 
and that to bring about a conclu.sion of ho.sti lilies he j)rojH>.sed the establish- 
ment of a neutral zone between the two armies of any w idlh that would l>e 
agreeable to General Otis, .so that during the peace negotiations there might 
be no further danger of conflict between the two armies. To the.se repre- 
sentations of General Torres, (icneral Otis sternly re])! ied that the fighting, 
having once begun, must go on to the grim end." 

Cent. C. MeReeze, tately returned to .Minnesota /ion: duty in .Manila. 
(Press /ntei-eiezc.) 



10 GUMPvSES OF "CRIMINAL AGGRESSION." 

" The chief insurgent leaders did not wish to open hostilities at that 
time." 

Ceil/. O/i's. Report to ^April 6, iSgg. 

' Aguinaldo now applies for a cessation of hostilities and conference; 
nave declined to answer." 

Cent. Of/s, telegni)!!, February 9, iSg<). 



THE "BRIBERY" STORY. 

" There has been a systematic attempt to blacken the name of Aguinaldo 
and his cabinet on account of the fjuestionable terms of their surrender to 
Spanish forces a year ago this month. It has been said that they sold their 
country for gold, but this has been conclusively disproved, not only by their 
own statements, but by the speech of the late Governor-General Riviera in 
the Spanish Senate, June 11, '98. He said that Aguinaldo undertook to sub- 
nut if the Spanish government would give a certain sum to the widows and 
orphans ol the insurgents. He than admits that only a tenth part of this sum 
was ever given to Aguinaldo, and that the other promises made he did not 
find it expedient to keep. 

" I was in Hongkong Sept. "97, when Agaiinaldo and his leaders arrived 
under contract with the Spanish government. They waited until the first of 
November for the payment of the promised money and the fulfilment of the 
promised reforms. Only $400,000 Mexican, was ever placed to their credit 
in the banks. 

Consul IVildman, Hongkong, July iS, iSgS, to Assistant Secretary 
3foore. Senate Doc. 62, p. j,"-/. 

" To-day I executed a power of attorney where1)y Aguinaldo releases to 

his attorneys in fact, f 400,000 now in bank at Hongk'o'ig, so that the money 

can pay for 3,000 stands of arms bought there and expected here to-morrow. 

. When Gen. Merritt arrives he will find large auxilliary fcices. " 

Consul IVilliains, Manila, Mav 2/. /SgS, to Sec'v Day. Setiate Doc. 62, 

P.32S. 

" President vSchunnan says Aguinaldo rejected with scorn an offer to take 
a salary of f5,ooo and become governor of the Tagals. " 

Editoral Chicago Tribune, September 21, iSgg, Based on Press Dispatch 
front Ithaca. 

" The leader of the insurgent forces says to the American Government : 
' You can have peace if you will give us independence. Peace for inde- 
pendence, he says. He had another price than that for peace once before ; 
but the Uuited States pavs no gold for peace. ' ' 

A/r. A/cAl'nley at Fargo, October S, iSgg. 

CAPACITY OF FILIPINOS. 

" T consider the forty or fifty leaders, with whose fortunes I have been 
very closely connected, both the superiors of the Malays and the Cubans. Agui- 
naldo, Agoncillo, and Sandico are all men who would be leaders in any 
country. ' ' 

Consul Wildnian, Hongkong, May /S, /SgS, to Secretary Day. .Senate 
Doc. 62. p. jj;6. 



GIJMPSI'S OF "CRIMINAI. AfW'.RKSSION." 11 

"In ;i telegram sent Id Ihc- l)L'i)arliMtiil mi Juno 23. I cxpressct! the 
ojiiiiion that ' these pcoijle arc far superior in Iheir iiitflii;;eiice iiul iiir)rc 
capahlc of self -govern iiitnt than the n ilives of Ciiha ; inii 1 atn familiar 
with both races. ' Further intercourse with them has confirmed me in this 
o])inion." 

.Idiniivil /^tuuv, to StiiYhirv /.(nii;, . finiiisl ji>, /.s'v.v. Si-itaU Lktc. 
6j, p. jSj. ' 

" They area barbarous race, moililied by three centuries of contact with a 
decadent race. The Filijiino is the South Sea Malay, ])ut through a Tjroce.ss 
of three hundred years of suijcrslition in religion, dishone.stv in dealing, 
disonier in Irabits of industry, ami cruelty, caprice, and corruj>lion in 
government." 

Scinilor /!i-z'rri(ti^t-. Sfxrrh, />. 5. 

" There are tliose who think the Spaniards are \\o\. ni Idp ireedom. I 
believe that no ])eo])le are fit for anything else." 

Sfcniiiry I law in pirf\nr to "Castilian Days," written l>ifoir fie fwaitne 
an instniincnt c/"" Iwucvolent assitnilation." 



" In the four nioiuhs which separate May i, 1S9S, from the day when 
the manuscript of this volume leaves my hands, important events have 
crowded on each others's heels as never before in tlie history of the 
archipelago. Whatever may be the immediate outcome, it is safe to say 
that, having learned something of his power, the civilized native will now 
be likely to take a hand in shaping his own future I trust that oppor- 
tunities which he has never enjoyed may be given to him. If not, may he 
win them for himself. 

Pliilippinc Coniinissioner Woircstrr. '■'Tlir I'ltilippinr Islands." p. y.V^. 

"WHAT ARE WE HERE FOR?" 

"The President desires tt) receive from you any important information 
you may have of the Philippines • the desirability of the several islands. ; 
the character of their population ; coal and other mineral deposits ; their 
harbors and commercial advantages, and in a naval and commercial sense 
wliich would be the most advantageous." 

Assistant Sirirtary Allen to Admiral Dt-u'cw .lu<:^iist /?, /SgS. Ap- 
pendix fiurcan 0/ .Vac-i<^ation Report, p. 133. 

" The Chairman [Day]. I would like to ask about Admiral Dewey's 
views. He selects the Island of Luzon as the one to be obtained. Do you 
understand that that is Admiral Dewey's views? 

' Gen''ral ^frrritt. I understand the question was asked from Wash- 
ington, • If we took but one island, ichieh is the hesf to seize upon ?' ... 
He naturally .selects the largest and most populous." 

Heart nir before the Peace Commission at I\iris. Oetoher j. /SoS. St-nate 
/)oe. 6j, pp. jdj; and j66. 

"The hard practical (piestion alone remains: Will the j)o.ssessioii of 
these islands benefit us as a nation ? If it will not, set them free to-morrow, 
and let their people if they ])lease cut eacli other's throats or play what 
l)ranks thev ]jlease " 

Philippine Commissioner /h-nhy. The J-'oriim, /•'ehniary. /Sgg 



12 GLIMPSES OF "CRIMINAL AGGRESSION." 

" This is a practical age. We are going to deal with the question on 
the basis of dollars and cents. Neither religion nor sentiment will have 
much influence in determining the verdict. The great question v/ill be, 
will it pay? " 

Senator Carter, tatc Chairman of the RepubUcau Xatioual Coininittee. 



" The Philippines are so valuaVjle in themselves that we should hold them. 
I have cruised more than two thousand miles through the archipelago every 
mornent a surpri.se at its lovliness and wealth. I have ridden hundreds of 
miles on the islands, every foot of the way a revelation of vegetable and 
mineral riches. No land in America surpasses in fertility the plains an'd 
valleys of Luzon. Rice and coffee, sugar and cocoanuts, hemp and tobacco, 
and many products of the temperate as well as the tropic zone grow in 
various sections of the archipelago. . . . Forty miles of Cebu's mountain 

chain are practically mountains of coal I have a nugget of 

pure gold picked up in its present form on the banks of a Philippine creek. 
I have gold dust washed out by crude processes of careless natives from the 
sands of a Philippine stream. Both indicate great deposits at the source 
from which they come. In one of the islands great deposits of copper 
exist untouched. The mineral wealth of this empire of the ocean will one 
day surprise the world. And the mineral wealth is but a small fraction of 
the agricultural wealth of these islands. And the markets they will them- 
selves afford will be inmiense. Spain's export and import trade with the 
islands undeveloped, was 111,534,731 annually. Our trade, with the islands 
developed, will be |;i25,ooo 000 annually, for who believes that we cannot 
do ten times as well as Spain ? .... Behold the exhaustless markets 
they command ! And yet American statesmen plan to sur- 
render this commercial throne of the Orient where Providence and our 
soldiers' lives have placed us." 

Senator Beveridi^e, Speeeh , p. 5. 



^'Beyond t/ie Philippines lies China.''' 
Many Jingo Voiecs. 

" I must say a word about the jingoes. Now the jingoes are a sect who 
hold that everything is ours that we can lay our hands on ; and that other 
people have no rights which we need respect. Their philosophy of the 
Philippine question is exceedingly simple. It is this : Greed in their hearts, 
gold in the Philippines, and God in heaven to satisfy the appetite with its 
desired object. The inhabitants of the archipelago, of Avhom there are some 
S, 000, 000, never enter into their calculatioris, or if the}' do it is simply as 
material for exploitation or food for bullets. Eight million Filipinos with 
no legal or moral rights that we need to consider ! Eight million innnortal 
souls to be treated as mere chattels ! Yet this is the gospel of the jingoes. 
. The American people will in due time punish them for their infamv." 
Philippine Commissioner Schurman at Chicago, February 22, jgoo. 



"THE GRIM END." 

" The insurgents have been scattered and driven East to the mountains. 

Our troops are no^v in the mountains in pursuit. . . . There is 

now no concentrated insurgent force of importance in Luzon, North Manila. 

. Organized rebellion no longer exists, and our troops are actively 

pursuing robber bands. ' ' 

Cent. Otis to Secy. Root, December 12, iSgg. 



(.I,lMl\Si;S Ol' 'CRIMINAI, AOGRUSSKiN." M 

" Our truuhlc has liccii that we were osily hall-liearti-.l fti «nir work 
Clive and IIasliii}^s knew how to (hviile and roiKjuer. If we <lo not wisli to 
follow this connnonsense niethoil, we shoulci not j^o into the conqneriii^ 
business. We need not adopt tlieir corrupt and tyrannical methods and yet 
may follow their example in ImildiuL; up jjarlies favorable to our interests 
by conciliatinj^ [bribing] men of local influence." 

Ctitl. 'riioiims A/. .Imiirsoii, in sij^iu'd aiiiilc, L'hiiVf^i' A'tronf. J\h- 
niarv _-'/, iqoo. 

" First, vou ])ush on into territories where you have no bu^iness to I'c. 
and where you had promised not to j,'o ; secondly,, your intrusion jjrovokes 
resentment, ami in these wild countries resentment means resi.stance ; 
thirdly, you constantly cry out that the peo])lo are rebellious, and that their 
act is rebellion (this in s]Mte of j'our own assurance that you have no inten- 
tion of settinj^ up a permanent soverin.uty over them); fourthly, you .send a 
force to stamp out the rebellion ; and, fifthly, having spread bloodshed, 
confusi(m, and anarchy, you declare, with hands u])lifte<l to the heavens, 
that moral reasons force V()U to stav, for, if you were to leave, this territory 
would be left in a condition which no civilized i)ower could contemplate 
with equanimity or composure. These are the five, .stages in the Forward 
Rake's progress." 

/()//;/ Moi/n\ on /.'ni^/ant/'s I'orcij^n roluy. 

"In order to prove that they have no right to their liberties, we are 
every day endeavoring to subvert tl:^ maxims which jjreserve the whole 
spirit of our own. To prove that they ought not be free, we are obliged to 
depreciate the value of freedom itself; and we never seem to gain a ])altry 
advantage over them in debate without attacking some of those jirinciple^. 
or deriding some of those feelings for which our ancestors have shed their 
blood. . . . . All dread of a standing military force is looke<lu]ion as 
a superstitious panic. We grow inditTerentto the consequences inevitable to 
ourselves from the plan of ruling half the world by a mercenary swonl. . 
Between craft and credulity the voice of rea.son is stilled, and all the 
misconduct, all the calamities of war, are continued. . . . The use of 
force alone is but temporary. It may subdue for a moment, but it does not 
remove the necessity of sulKluing again ; and a nation is not governed which 
is perpetually to l)e con(iuereil. . . . Vou will never see any revenue 
from these colonies. vSome increase of the means of corruption, without ease 
to the public burdens, is the very be.stthat can hajjpen. Is it for this we are 
at war, and in such a war ? Have anv of those gentlemen who are so eager to 
o-overu all mankind shown themselves possessed of the first qualities toward 
government, some knowledge of the object and the difficulties which occur 
fu the task thev have undertaken?" ,, . 

Iidtiiund l>urkc, 1775. ^ 

" This is not the time and place to discuss this issue. lUit if the i)eople 
shall decide that no nation is good enough to rule ani>ther nation without 
that other's consent ; if thev shall remember what it cost us to cast out the 
heresiiy that the great principles <.f liberty did not apply to black men and 
shall refuse to reembrace it as to brown ones ; if they shall conclude that this 
countrv can not long exist part va-ssal and part free, as they found it could 
not part slave and part free.— then there will be no difiiculty in doing what 
we ou-rht to have done in thebetrinning : leave the l-ilii)inosto mmage their 
own affairs an<l -ser\e notice on the world that they are under our jirotection 
That i.ssue may be settled soon. It may take long. As it involves right and 
wrong, it will never be settled until it is .settled right." 

ILv-.Htorncv Ccncral Jndsou llannon al dinner to Hon. U illiani //. 
Tafl, Cincinnati, March 5, /9W. 



We have now to meet " a greater danger than we have 
encountered since the Pilgrims landed at Plvmoiith — the 
danger that we are to be transformed from a repubHc, 
founded on the Declaration ot Independence, guided by 
the counsels ot Washington, into a vulgar, common-place 
empire, founded upon phvsical force." 

Senator Hcar^ January 9, 1899, 



REPUBLIC OR EMPIRE. 

The foregoing (luotalions, chosen niainl\- and ahnosl al 
random from official ntterances, aflord glimpses of an amazing 
modern crusade. They disclose our trusted representatives 
in the act of seeking the Filipino alliance. They bear 
witness to the " co-operation " for many weeks of our naval 
and military commanders with " Gen. Aguinaldo, Command- 
ing the Filippine Forces" against "a common enemy." 
They are conclusive that when the Filipinos became our 
allies they believed, and we knew they believed, that the 
object of the alliance was their independence. They indicate 
the transformation of a war for liberty in Cuba into a war 
against liberty in Asia. They show how a much vaunted 
crusade for humanity became a brutal war of " criminal ag- 
gression." They make it perfectly clear that the most 
brazen mendacity cannot alter or suppress a shameful record. 

The cause of Aguinaldo has not changed. If he de- 
served success in 1S9S, he deserves it now. If he was a 
leader with whom our forces might properly cooperate tlien, 
he is not now the chieftain of " robber bands." Admiral 
Dewey and Genls. Anderson and Mcrritt were his comrades 
in honorable warfare or his accomplices in brigandage. 

The fate of Aguinaldo and his cause is but an incident 
of an awful tragedy. The deliberate murder by American 
hands of the best hope of native government in the Philip- 
pines, the ruthless slaughter of the Filipinos in the name 
though not by the authority of the American people, is hor- 
rible enough. It is, however, but an incident of the betrayal 
on American soil of the principle of self government by the 
McKinlev administration. 



16 REPUBLIC OR EMPIRE. 

True, Mr. McKinley says that the " Philippines, like 
Cuba and Porto Rico, were intrusted to our hands by the 
Providence of God." We shall do well, as Mr. Boutwell 
suggests, not to confuse the issue with what Mr. McKinley 
says. His acts are more significani than his words. It was 
no mysterious hand that caused the so-called " treaty of 
peace " to be read thus : 

" Spain relinquishes all claim of sovereignty over and 
title to Cuba. . . . Spain cedes to the United States the 
island of Porto Rico. . . . Spain cedes to the United 
States the archipelego known as the Philippine Islands." 

It will not do to let the author and finisher of this prec- 
ious document hide behind the " Providence of God." The 
treaty with Spain did not fall upon us like manna from 
above. It cannot be accepted as the basis oi discussion. On 
its face appears the sinister purpose to do in the Philippines 
what we solemnly promised not to do in Cuba. If the forcible 
annexation of Cuba would be " criminal aggression," pray 
what is the forcible annexation of the Philippines? When, 
in defiance of the law of nations we interferred, both were 
struggling against a common oppressor for independence. 
One, lying near our shores, might possibly become fitted to 
share our institutions. The other, situated far beyond our 
borders, can have no other than an artificial relation to us. 
Why by a single stroke make one free and the other a subject 
province ? There is no answer that is honorable to American 
statesmanship. 

The assumed success of Mr. INIcKinley's war of " crim- 
inal aggression," the destruction by his hand of native gov- 
ernment in the Philippines, brings lis face to face with a 
proposed task which we cannot perform and retain the self 
government in which we have so long rejoiced. To enter 
upon it involves a vital change in our institutions. To suc- 
ceed in it we must surrender the noble achievements of our 
Pastj forsake the advanced ideals of our national life, and 



Ri;i'riu,ic OR 1':mi'iri-.. i7 

abandon the ground which Washington pre-empted and Lin- 
cohi made ours. 

The Constitution created a nation of States, "an indestruct- 
able union, composed of indestructablc States." It was its pur- 
pose "to form a more perfect union . . . and secure the 
blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity." Every 
person born or naturalized within the United Slates was to 
be a citizen of the n^.tion and of the state of his residence. 
All people of the nation were to constitute a brotherhood of 
citizens having equal rights before the law, which might not 
be denied or abridged because of race or color. There were 
to be no subjects, only citizens. The government was to 
derive its powers from consent of the governed. This con- 
sent was to be manifested by the active participation by the 
governed in a government which was to be their own and by 
them controlled. New territory might be acquired but only 
in due course to become States. In the language of the 
Supreme Court, " It is acquired to become a State, and not 
to be held as a colony, and governed by Congress with 
absolute authority." {Scott vs. Sand/ord, 19 How., U. S. 
Reps., 393). 

Such, in brief, was the ideal which for a century and a 
quarter we cherished, the plan of popular government to 
which until tw^o years ago we were true. It is now first pro- 
posed to abandon this ideal and destroy the results of its 
pursuit. Wc, who inherit the teachings and achievements of 
Washington and Lincoln, are asked to seal with our approval 
the betrayal of their principles. We are expected to tolerate 
and even applaud the acquisition of territory by the President 
and Congress to be by them ruled without constitutional 
warrant or restraint. We are to permit mere creatures of the 
Constitution to exercise powers, acquired and held under it, 
to do things without its purpose and beyond its control. 
Constitutional powers and agencies are to be used to promote 
ends that are without and bevoud the Constitution The 



18 REPUBLIC OR EMPIRE. 

seeds of dual government at Washington are already sown. 
The President and Congress are to be no longer mere servants 
of a free people. It is proposed that they shall henceforth 
wield both cons||j,tutional and extra-constitutional powers. 
With one hand, they are to continue (for the time being) to 
exercise delegated and defined authority ; with the other, 
they are to execute self-assumed and arbitrary powers. This 
is what the proposal to rule the Spanish islands outside the 
Constitution means. Upon the brink of this precipice we 
stand. 

These extraordinary proposals are thus, in part, stated 
by Secretary Root : 

" I assume . . . that the United States has all the 
powers in respect of a territory it has thus acquired, and the 
inhabitants of that territory, which any nation in the world 
has in respect of territory which it has acquired ; that, as 
between the people of the ceded islands and the United 
States, the former are subject to the complete sovereignty of 
the latter, controlled by no legal limitations except those 
which may be found in the treaty of cession ; that the people 
of the islands have no right to have them treated as states, 
or to have them treated as the territories previously held by 
the United States, have been treated, or to assert a legal right 
under the provisions of the Constitution . . . or to assert 
against the United States any legal right whatever not found 
in the treaty." 

The so-called treaty of peace thus becomes the Magna 
Charta, the Bill of Rights, and the Constitution of the ten 
millions of civilized human beings who are natives of the 
Spanish islands. What rights, wrung for them from unwilling 
Spain, are by this precious modern charter of liberty guaran- 
teed to them ? These are few and simple, as follows : 

" The civil rights and political status of the native in- 
habitants of the territories hereby ceded to the United States 
shall be determined by the Congress. 



Ki:rrnijc or i.mj'Iki:. lo 

"The inhabitants of the territories over whicli Spain 
relinquishes or cedes her sovereignty sliall be secured in the 
free exercise of their reli<^ion." 

It is also declared that the relinquishment or cession 
of Spanish sovereignty cannot impair the property or rights 
pertaining thereto "of provinces, municipalities, public or 
private establishments, ecclesiastical or civic bodies, or any 
other associations having legal capacity to acquire and possess 
property . . . , or of private individuals.'' 

Thus in a dozen lines of a treaty, made as we are as- 
sured in their interest though without their consent, the 
natives of the Spanish islands may find all their legal rights 
set forth. Not only so, but in tlie same lines they mav also 
find the claims of a state church to much of the desirable 
property of their islands carefully preserved and protected. 
This shows great progress in the power of condensed state- 
ment. By comparison, what a waste of words appears in our 
Magna Charta, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, 
and Constitutions ! We need not wonder, as we stand with 
uncovered head in the presence of tliis final charter of liberty 
that there are those among us who regard our mustv and 
verbose charters "outgrown." 

The simple terms and limitations of tiiis precious docu- 
ment also bear concrete testimony to Mr. McKinley's faith 
in what he calls " the wisdom of Congress." In this he has 
also made a great advance over the suspicious framers of the 
Constitution. They feared and refused to commit tiie liberties 
of three million people to the tender care of a Congress of 
their own choice and directly responsible to themselves. He 
neither fears nor hesitates to commit the liberties of ten 
million souls to the control of a Congress of another race in 
no way representative of, or responsible to, them. He says 
that he has every (undisclosed) reason to believe that his new 
wards share his own faith in the wisdom of Congress. He 



20 REPUBLIC OR EMPIRE. 

even believes that a simple despotic government imposed , 
upon them by him is " in accordance with the wishes and 
the aspirations of the great mass of the Filipino people." It, 
however, requires the presence in the Philippines of some 
eio-hty thousand American soldiers to aid them in realizing 
their alleged "wishes and aspirations." 

This "treaty of peace," or new charter of liberty, is of 
course to be interpreted in the light of Mr. McKinley's pur- 
pose of " benevolent assimilation." It is in this spirit that 
Mr. Root, in his annual report as Secretary of War, proceeds 
as follows : 

" The people of the ceded islands have acquired a moral 
right to be treated by the United States in accordance with 
the underlying principles of justice and freedom which we 
have declared in our Constitution, which are the essential 
safeguards of every individual against the powers of govern- 
ment, not because those provisions were enacted for them, but 
because they are essential limitations inherent in the very 
existence of American government.'' 

Thus it appears, that by reason of a treaty in the making 
of which they did not share, the Filipinos have acquired rights 
both legal and moral in character. Their rights of property 
and security in the exercise of religion are in some sense 
legal. Their civil rights and political status rest on moral 
sanctions. How thankful they should be, especially for the 
assurance of Secretary Root, that they have acquired a moral 
ri»ht to be treated by their alien masters " in accordance 
with the underlying principles of .justice and freedom." It 
seems that but for this precious treaty they would be without 
even moral rights. Anybody can see that by virtue of the 
treaty they have become entitled to "such measure of liberty 
as Congress shall from time to time deem them fit to enjoy." 
What more can an " inferior race " ask of its masters? What 
matter if the liberty which comes without effort and as a 
benefaction to its recipients is a plant of slow growth? 



Ki;rrHi,ic or ii.Mriki-:. .; 

These people live in the tropics. Who ever licard <>f such 
people caring much for liberty? They may thank their 
lucky stars that they ha\c been committed to the tender care 
of such good masters. If their chance of liberty is slij.^ht, 
what they get will cost them nothing, not even a thought. 
It ought al.so to be worth something to tropical islanders to 
be but one remove from Mr. McKinley's " Providence 
of God." 

Mr. McKinley's Porto Rican dilemma was anticipated by 
those who refused to join hands with him in his war of 
"criminal aggression" in the Philippines. They foresaw the 
irrepressible conflict that is now on between those who love 
the principles of the American Constitution as it is and those 
who would fling those principles aside in pursuit of colonial 
empire. During all the years of a glorious century that 
Constitution has been the supreme law of a land composed 
of States and Territories in preparation for statehood. Under 
its sway representatives of the people have exercised none 
but delegated powers. Their government has been an ex- 
pression, not a source, of authority. It has expressed the 
co-operation through which they obtained for themselves the 
security of public order, the blessings of self-government. 
They did not create it a government of inherent powers. It 
was but the agent b\- means of which they sought to secure 
the blessings of liberty for themselves and their posterity. 
It neither exercised despotic authority over them or over 
others. It was not set up to rival royalty. It was not to become 
an oppressor, but to create a refuge for the oppressed. It was 
simply a "government of the people, by the people, for the 
people." 

Such are the ideals that some among us assume to be 
"outgrown." They have tired of the splendid preeminence 
of the greatest of republics. Like the people of Israel they 
would have theirs as other nations are. They are ambitious 
for it to become what they are pleased to call a " World 



22 REPUBLIC OR EMPIRE. 

Power." To this end, they seek to restrict the authority of 
the Constitution to the States, and to have the President and 
Congress exercise powers derived under the Constitution as a 
basis of extra-constitutional action. In a word, they propose 
to have a republic at home and an empire abroad. This 
calls for a dual government at Washington, half representa- 
tive and half despotic in character. A government which is 
but an expression of the sovereignty of the people is to be- 
come one having both delegated and inherent povv^ers. 

The danger involved in these startling proposals is by 
no means imaginary. We are already face to face with an 
old question — one that we long supposed to be forever settled 
for Americans. Are the powers of government conferred by 
the people, or are they inherent in the king? It has been 
truly said that the essence of monarchy is not so much the 
presence of the king as the absence of the people from all the 
important transactions of government. 

Congress and the President are merely agents of the peo- 
ple. They act under the authority of the Constitution to carry 
out its expressed purposes. If it extends only to the terri- 
torial limits of the States, they are without power beyond 
such limits. To say that officials created by the people may 
exercise powers conferred upon them by the Constitution to 
do things without its purposes and beyond its control, is to 
say that a stream may rise higher than its source. To say 
that the President and Congress may use the forces and 
revenues of the United States to acquire territory which shall 
not be subject to the Constitution as the supreme law of the 
land, is to say that they may exercise powers acquired under 
the Constitution for extra-constitutional ends, that they may 
employ the public revenues, forces, and authority for other 
than public purposes. If only their action within the States 
is controlled by the Constitution, if they may act beyond the 
States at will and without restraint, then their will and not 
the Constitution is the supreme law. If the Constitution is 



Ri-:rrm,ic ou i;mi'ikiv 23 

to remain the fuiulaniciital law of the land, ii can never nnder 
whatever pretense be admitted that officials holdin>,^ nnder it 
may act beyond the limits of its anthority. 

The people of the United States are soverei^Mi. Their 
government is bnt an agent exercisinji: delegated powers. Its 
several departments can exercise no powers which are not 
delegated. All powers not delegated are reserved by the 
people to themselves. A self-governing people cannot 
confer on its governmental agencies anthority to rule over 
others. The might of a people, no more than that of a king, 
is a warrant to reign. A representative government can act 
only for those represented. It cannot also rule others 
without ceasing to be merely representative. Abraham 
Lincoln in memorable words declared that " this government 
cannot endure permanently half slave and half free." Under 
his splendid leadership the union ceased to be divided. It is 
for us to decide whether it shall be again divided, whether 
it shall be half republic and half empire. 

Thus we see that the proposal to restrict the authority 
of the Constitution to the States, in order like certain others 
to have "crown colonies" and "subjects," involves a funda- 
mental change in our institutions. A government must 
have and execute powers. These must be derived from, and 
exercised subject to, the con.sent of the governed, or they 
must be self-assumed and exercised without restraint. They 
must proceed from the people to a governmental agency, or 
they must be inherent in the government itself. Heretofore 
our government has been solely charged with the execution 
of powers conferred by the governed. It has exercised none 
but delegated authority. It is now seriously proposed that 
within the States it shall continue in the exercise of this 
authority; and, in addition, that it shall assume and exercise 
despotic power over the territories and such colonial 
dependencies as it may choose to acquire. It is to represent 
democracy in the States and stand for absolutism in its 
dependencies. With one hand it will administer for a 



24 RErUBUC OR EMPIRE. 

"superior race" the blessings of free government ; with the 
other it will bestow upou " lesser breeds without the law " 
such measures of good government as it deems them fit to 
enjoy. In its capacity as an agency of a free people, it Vv-ill 
conserve rights guaranteed to them by the Constitution ; as 
the vanguard of returning despotism, it will confer favors on 
"inferior races." The undisguised basis of this policy is 
inequality among men. Its purpose is to stay the hands of 
progress, to escape from the consequences of democracy. 

The parts of this dual government cannot remain dis- 
tinct. They will act and react upon each other. It may be 
conceded that our "assimilation " of subject peoples, so far 
as it goes, will be more or less " benevolent," that the " moral 
rights " of the natives of the islands, which Mr. Root admits 
to be limitations upon his proposed despotism, will be some- 
what observed ; and that the government bestowed from 
Washington upon them will not be wholly bad. On the 
other hand, it will not do to forget that the United States is 
to be the military base of the new despotism ; that we, the 
people, are to furnish the enormous revenues and powerful 
forces needed to acquire and maintain colonial dependencies ; 
and that, as it becomes more evident that arbitrary power is 
much less tedious in its operation than are the slow processes 
through which government by public opinion works out its 
results, the present ill-concealed impatience of constitutional 
restraints will grow until only the forms of representative 
government remain. Despotism and democracy cannot exist 
together. Reversion to despotism means the surrender of 
democracy. 

We already see, in the vast increase of unrestrained 
executive activity, the greatest danger to constitutional gov- 
ernment. Under ordinary conditions the power of the Presi- 
dent within its scope is well nigh absolute. Prof. Simeon E. 
Baldwin of Yale, has recently pointed out " that of the lead- 
ing powers of the world, two, only, in our time, represent the 
principle of political absolutism, and enforce it by one 



RKITHMC nii l-.MI'lki;. 25 

man's hand. Tlicy arc Russia and the L'nited States." To the 
extent that we permit oik- man to exercise uncontrolled 
power we resort to the dictator. 

Mr. McKinley has gone to great lengths in introducing 
at Washington the methods of absolutism. He promptly 
relegated to the rear the issue upon which he was chosen, 
violated the pledges of his party platform as respects our 
foreign policy, committed the country to a revolutionary 
course, deliberately created a state of war in the Philippines, 
debauched the civil service to promote the adventure, and 
demanded of all citizens a suspension of judgment and unani- 
mous support while he sees fit to continue the fighting, or 
until further notice from him. The powers which he exer- 
cises to-day in Cuba, in Porto Rico, and in the Philippines 
are those of a military despot. 

A comparison of the Republican platform of 1896 with 
the entire action of the present administration will disclose 
how absolute are the powers which Mr. McKinley has 
assumed. The point here is that an imperial policy vastly 
increases the opportunity and even the necessity for the 
exercise of uncontrolled executive power. If we are to have 
"crown colonies" and "subjects," we must likewise have a 
despotic executive. 

Let us, however, not deceive ourselves. Liberty is not 
mocked. The Constitution still lives as the supreme law of 
the land. This is by no means its first trial. It survived 
the storm and stress of the slavery conflict, in the words of 
James Bryce coming " out of the furnace of civil war with 
scarce the smell of fire upon it." Those, who mysteriously 
intimate that " some way will be found to get around the 
Constitution " in pursuit of empire, have yet to reckon with 
the Supreme Court of the United States. That great tri- 
bunal is by no means likely to abdicate its functions. It 
may be relied upon to make short work of the cxtraordinar}' 



26 REPUBLIC OR EMPIRE. 

proposition that its jurisdiction extends only to the forty-five 
States, leaving Congress and the President free to act at will 
beyond their limits. 

The Supreme Court has again and again exercised juris- 
diction over the territory of the United States lying outside 
the States. Chief Justice Marshall himself has defined the , 
term " United States " as " the name given to our great 
republic, which is composed of states and territories." The 
court has held that "the provisions of the Constitution 
relating to trials by jury for crimes and to criminal processes 
apply to the territories of the United States " {Thompson vs. 
Utah, 170 U. S., 343, 346; Callan vs. Wilson, 127 U. S., 
540) ; that Congress, in legislating for the territories and the 
District of Columbia, is subject to those fundamental limita- 
tions in favor of personal and civil rights, which are formu- 
lated in the Constitution and its amendments {Mormo7t 
Church vs. United States, 136 U. S., i ; Mca lister vs. United 
States, 141 U. S., 174; American Publishing Society vs. 
Fisher, 166 U. S., 464, 466); that only "their [the people's] 
political rights are franchises which they hold within the 
legislative discretion of Congress " {Murphy vs. Ramsey, 114 
U. S., 15) ; that American-born Chinamen of alien parentage 
are citizens because of the fourteenth amendment, and free 
from the exclusion acts and treaties ( United States vs. Wong 
Kim Ark, 169, U. S, 649); that all citizens of the United 
States have "the right to come to the seat of government," 
to have " free access to its seaports," and to pass freely from 
one part of the country to every other part {Crandall vs. 
Nevada, 6 Wall., 35) ; that " by the ratification of the treaty " 
of cession from Mexico, " California became a part of the 
United States "; that by virtue of the constitutional require- 
ment of uniformity of duties, imports, and excises, imports of 
foreign goods into it were required to pay "the same duties 
as were chargeable in the other ports of the United States " 
{Cross vs. Harrison, 16 How., 198); and that the United 



RKrUHIJC OK IvMlMKi:. 27 

States, upon "ac(iturin<; territory, l)y treaty or otherwise, 
must liold it subject to the Const iliilioii and hiws " {l\>llnni 
:s. llogan^ 3 How., 312). 

We may, therefore, conehule that all the islands aecjnired 
by the United vStates and made jK-rmancntly part of its ter- 
ritory will be sul)ject to its Constitution and ji^eneral laws ; 
that their inhabitants, at least those hereafter born, will be 
citizens of the United States and of the several States in 
which they choose to reside, and as such privileged to come 
and go at will throughout the entire country ; that their 
government by Congress will be subject to the fundamental 
limitations in' favor of personal and civil rights, which are 
formulated in the Constitution ; that the tariff w^all which 
we have so long maintained about the United States must be 
extended to embrace them, giving to them absolute free 
trade with us ; and that, as the Constitution is not based on 
inequality among men, they cannot be held as colonies and 
their people treated as subjects. 

The final question is whether the Constitution ought to 
provide for colonial dependencies. If, so, it should be 
amended to this end. All our constitutional amendments 
have had for their object the better protection of the rights 
of the citizen. Kach new amendment has directly or 
indirectly added new guarantees for the security of personal 
rights. Not one has tended to promote absolutism. Shall 
the movement, begun by the adoption of the Constitution and 
continued in unbroken progress by its amendments, now be 
reversed ? Is it not rather late for us to discover that govern- 
ment derives its just powers from iy^wf of the governed ? vShall 
we, at this late day, concede to Congress discretionary power to 
make the Constitution and laws of the United States general 
or special? Shall we subject the personal rights and 
immunities of citizens to the discretion of Congress? Are 
we prepared to let Congress say in what parts of the Ignited 
States speech shall be free? Shall Congress determine to 



28 REPUBLIC OR EMPIRE. 

what extent imports, duties, and excises shall be uniform ? 
Are we ready to surrender, or even impair in any particular, 
the bill of rights? Above and beyond all, shall we now by 
evasion, construction, or amendment, deliberately embody in 
our fundamental law the principle of inequality among men? 
If so, we are false to our heritage, unworthy of our birthright, 
and deserve to be ourselves enslaved. What we cannot do 
by way of amendment of our fundamental law we must not 
permit to be accomplished by its evasion. 

It is strongly urged upon us that " right or wrong this 
thing is going to succeed," and that we should join with 
those who would make the best of the retention of the Spanish 
islands. It is especially objected • that our opposition is 
vexatious and even treasonable. We decline this invitation 
and here give notice of our purpose to maintain free speech 
in America, even in the presence of an imperial executive 
who demands exemption from public criticism. We regard 
what has happened in the Philippines as wholesale murder and 
larceny ; we have had no part in it; and we refuse to become 
accomplices after the fact. 

We have come to the city of the Declaration of 
Independence to drink deep at this fountain of human liberty. 
We here renew our faith in self-government and pledge 
ourselves to do all that in us lies for its preservation. We 
still cherish the principles for which Washington fought and 
Lincoln died. We hold that taxation without representation 
is still tyranny. We declare relentless war on " the miners 
and sappers of returning despotism." We will neither 
compromise nor surrender. " Our reliance is in the love of 
liberty which God has planted in us. Our defense is in the 
spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men in all 
lands everywhere." {Lincoln.) 



Additional copies of this tract may be had upon applica- 
tion to 

W.J. MIZE, Secretary of the American Anti-Imperialist League, 
5J7 First National Bank Building, Chicago. 

It is requested that applications be accompanied by postage. 
Addresses of persons to whom this tract should be sent are 
solicited. 

All persons in sympathy with the object of the League arc 
requested to record their names with the Secretary. Tliis 
does not imply any pecuniary obligation. Funds are desired, 
however, for carrying on the work, and the League will be glad 
to receive subscriptions of any amount, large or small. 

Remittances should be made payable to Frederick W.Gookin, 
Treasurer, 217 La Salle Street, Chicago. 



PLATF ORH Of- TMf: 
AMERICAN ANTI-IMI»nRIALI5T LIHAOUE. 

We hold that the policy kno\\nu> imperialism it hostile to liberty anJ tend* toward 
militarism, an e> il (rom wlilcli it liiis heeii our iflory to be free. We rci^ret that It ha* 
become necessary in the land of W ashint^ton and Lincoln to reaffirm that all men, uf 
whatever race or color, are entitled to life, liberty and the piir>uii of happineto. We 
maintain that governments derl\e Ihiir just powers from the content of the Ko\erncJ. 
V\'e insist thai tlie subjugation of an> people Is "criminal a|{»(ression " and open 
disloxalty to the distinctive principles of our ({on ernment. 

We earnestly condemn the policy of the present national administration in the 
Philippines. It seeks to extinj^uish the spirit of 177ft in those islands. We deplore the 
sacrifice of our soldiers and sailors, whose bravery deserves admiration even in an 
unjust war. We denounce the slau^bter <if the I'illpinoK as a needless horror. We 
protest airainst the extension of American sovereijfnty by 5>panish methods. 

We demand the immediate cessation of the war a(,cainst liberty, betcun by Spain and 
continued by us. We urire that Conjfress be promptly convened to announce i-. •he 
Filipinos our purpose to concede to them the independence for which they have so lonif 
fought and w hich of ri^ht is theirs. 

Thj Lnited States have always protested a);ainst the doctrine of international law 
which permits the subjui^atiim of the weak by the strong. A self-novernini: state 
cannot accept sovereignty over an unwilling; people. The I nited States cann<it act upon 
the ancient heresy that mi^ht makes rijiht. 

Imperialists assume that with the destruction of self-ifovernment in the Philippines 
by American hands, all opposition here will cease. This is a urevious error. .Much as 
we abhor the war of "criminal airuression " in the Philippines, greatly as we re^jret 
that the blood of the Filipinos is on American hands, we more deepiv resent the 
betrayal of American institutions at home. The real firin;: line is not in the suburbs 
of .'Manila. The foe is of our own household. The attempt of i.soi was to div ide the 
country. That of iSqo is to destroy its fundamental principles and noblest ideals. 

Whether the ruthless slaughter of the Filipinos shall end next month or next vear 
is but an incident in a contest that must tC" *>n until the declaration of independence 
and the constitution of the I nited States are rescued from.the hands of their betrayers. 
Those who dispute about standards of value w 'ule the founduiion of the republic is 
undermined w ill be listened to as little as those w ho would vvranjfle about the small 
economies of the household while the house is on fire. Ihe training; of a (treat people 
for a century, the aspiration for liberty of a vast immigration are forces that will hurl 
aside those who in the delirium of conquest seek to destroy the character of our 
institutions. 

We deny that the obligation of all citizens to support their jtovernment in times of 
ffrave ~<ational peril applies to the present situation. If an administration may with 
impunity ignore the issues upon which it was chosen, deliberately create a condition of 
war anywhere on the face of the globe, debauch the civ il service for spoils to promote 
the adv enture, organize a truth-suppressing censorship, and demand of all citizens a 
suspension of judgment and their unanimous support while it chmtses to continue the 
fighting, representative government itself is imperiled. 

We propose to contribute to the defeat of any per.son or partv that stands for the 
foicible subjugation of any people. We shall oppose for re-election all w ho in the w hite 
house or in congress betray American liberty in pursuit of un-.\merican ends. We still 
hope that both of our great political parties will support and defend the declaration of 
independence in the closing campaign of the century. 

We hold with .Abraham Lincoln, that " no man Is good enough to govern another 
man without that other's consent. W hen the white man governs himself, that is self- 
government, but w hen he gov erns himself and also gov ern< another man, that is more 
than self-government that is despotism." " Dur reliance is in the love of liberty 
which Ood has planted in us. Our defense is in the spirit which prizes liberty as the 
heritage of all men in all lands. Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for 
themselv es, and under a just (iod, cannot long retain it." 

We cordially inv Ite the co-operation of all men and women w ho remain lov ul to the 
declaration of independence and the constitution uf the United States, 
f Adopted by the Chicago Ci>nrercnce, Oct. i*n 1^99-] 



American 
Anti-Imperialist League 



Office of the Executive Committee 
164 Dearborn Street, Room 517 

CHICAGO 



' Georgk S. Boutwell, President. 
William J. Mize, Secretarj'. Frederick W. Cookin, Treasurer. 

vice-presidents 

Andrew Carnegie. Donelson Caffery. Richard T. Crane. C.a.rl Schurz. 
J. Sterling Morton. Rufus B. Smith. John J. Valentine. 

FINANCE COMMITTEE 

Daniel M. I<ord, Chairman, Chicago. Herbert Welsh, Philadelphia. 

Dana Estes, Boston. IvOUis R. Ehrich, Colorado Springs. 

Robert Fulton Cutting, New York. • 

EXICUTIVE COMMITTEE 

Edwin Burritt Smith, Chairman. 

President, Secretary, Treasurer, Ex-Officio. 

Edgar A. Bancroft. I<ouis R. Ehrich. William H. Fleming. 

William D. McHugh. George G. Mercer. Frank H. Scott. Winslow Warren. 

Charles B. Wilby. Erving Winslow. Sigmund Zeisler. 



This League is organized to aid in holding the United States true to the 
principles of the Declaration of Independence. It seeks the preservation of 
the rights of the people as guaranteed to them by the Constitution. Its 
members hold self-government to be fundamental, and good government 
but incidental. It is its purpose to oppose by all proper means the extension 
of the sovereignty of the United States over subject peoples. It will con- 
tribute to the defeat of any candidate or party that stands for the forcible 
subjugation of any people. 



CORRESPONDENCE IS SOLICITED. 




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